The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1887-05-21
parchment, and he had lived in the

family time out of mind. He was sucl
a small, dwarfsh, deeny creature, tina
no one every thought Of putting him tt
hard work. All that they did was, nov
and again, from the want of better
messenger at the moment, or to humol
the old man, to send him to Rathcor
mac post offiee for letters. But he wa'
too weak and feeble to walk so far
though it was onlya matter Of three OF
four miles; SO they got him little ass
and he rode upon it, quite as proud as {
general at the head of an army of con
querols. Twas as good as a play to SET
Con mounted upon his donkey--yol
could scarcely make out which had the
most stupid look. But neither man mol
beast can help his looks.
cat that time Ratbcormac, though
tits but a village new, was a borough
and sent TWO members to the Irish Par
lament. Was not the great Curran
the orator and patriot, me mber foi Rath
cormac, when he was a young mani
Did not Colonel Tonson get made al,
Irish peer, out Of this very borough
which his son William is. to this very
day, by the title Of Baron Riversdale OF
Rathcormac? Does not his shield bear
an open hand between two castles, and
is not the motto, 'Manus haze inimica
tyrannis means that it was the
enemy of tyrants? Did not the Ulster
King of Arms make the Tonsons q
grant OF these arms, in the time d
CROMWELL But here I have left poor
little Con mounted on his donkey all
this time.
Con O'Keefe was not worth his keep
for any good he did, but, truth to say
he had the name Of being hand and
glove with the fairies; and, at that
time, Corran Thierna swarmed with
them. They changed their quarters
when the regiments from Fermoy bar
racks took to firing against targets
stuck up at the foot of the mountain.
Not that bali could ever hit fairy
| Except silver one cast by girl in her
teens, who has never wished fora lover,
or a widow under forty who has not
sighed for second hVsband--so there's
little chance that it ever will be cast)
but they hate the noise Of the firing and
the smell of gunpowder, quite as much
as the devil hates holy water.
81 'Tis reckoned lucky in these parts
to have a friend Of the fairies in the
house with you, and that was partly the
reason why Con O'Keefe was kept at
Barry 's-fort. Many and many a one
could swear to hearing him and the
good folk talk together at twilight OH
his return from RathcorInac with the
letter bag. My own notion is, that if
he had anything to say to them, he had
more sense than to hold conversation
with them on the high road, Cor that
might have led 20 general discovery.
Con was fond Of q drop, and, when he
took it (Which YVES in an algebraic Way,
that is, any given quantity'), he had
such famous spirits, and his tongue
went SO glihly, that, in the absence OF
other company, he was sometimes
forced to talk to himself, as he trotted
home.
Zone night, as he was going along,
rather the worse for liquor, he thought
he heard a confused sound of voices in
the air, directly over his head. He
stopped, and, sure enough, it was the
fairies. who We're chattering away, like
8 beyy of magpies, but he did not know
this at the time.
s'At first he thought it might be some
Of the neighbors wanting to play him a
trick. So, to show that he was not
afraid (for the drink had made him
bold as lion), when the voices above
and around him kept calling out High
up! nigh up!' he put in his spoke, and
shouted, as loud as any of them, High
up! high up with ye. my lads!' No
sooner said than done. He was whisked
off his donkey i'll a twinkling, and was
high up in the air in the very middle
Of q crowd Of good people, for it
happened to be one OF their festival
nights, and the cry that poor little Con
heard was the summons for gathering
them all together. There they were.
mighty small, moving about as quickly
as notes in the sunshine. Although
Con had the reputation at Barry fort
of being well acquainted with them all,
you may we'll believe that there was not
a single face among the lot that he
knew.
I'm less than no time, off they went,
when their leader.-a little morse] of a
fellow, not bigger than Hop-o'-my
Thumb-bawled out, High for France!
high for France! high over!' Off they
went, through the air-quick as if they
were on a steeple-chase. Moss and
moor-mountain and valley-green field
and brown bog-land and water were
all left behind, and they never once
halted until they reached the coast OF
France.
'"They Immediately made for the
house (there 1T is called the chateau) Of